Arrangement for holding histological and biological specimens

ABSTRACT

A covering device places cover glasses on object carriers. The object carriers are held in a holder in a position inclined relative to the horizontal. The cover glasses are placed on the object carriers by a rotational movement. A pivot pin of the segment that places the cover glasses on the object carriers is mounted so as to be horizontally displaceable, such that when the cover glasses are positioned, they press on the object carriers in a rolling motion to prevent bubbles from forming in the specimen being mounted.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an apparatus for mounting histological andbiological specimens in the field of medicine. Among other things, itcan be used for diagnostic apparatuses, and particularly in apparatusesfor the mounting of histological and biological specimens in an opticalmedium for their microscopic investigation.

2. Discussion of Relevant Art

Specially prepared histological and biological specimens containing astain are placed in an optically homogeneous medium and are investigatedwithin a required time. Different materials, e.g., canada balsam orpolystyrene, are used as the optical medium. Specimen mountingpredominantly takes place manually. For this purpose, the specimensituated on the microscope slide is treated with a quantity of thematerial, respectively dissolved in xylene, and is then carefullymounted with the cover glass (G.I. Roskin, Mikroskopieverfahren(Microscopy Methods), Publisher: “Sovietskaya Nauka”, Moscow, 1951, p.152; G.A. Merkulow, “Short Course, Histopathologic Methods”, Publisher“Medgis”, Leningrad, 1951, p. 86; B. Romejs, Microscopy Methods,Publisher “IL”, Moscow, 1953, pp. 191-192). Another method consists ofapplying a drop of resin dissolved in xylene to the cover glass ofcorresponding size. The microscope slide with the specimen is thencarefully lowered until the specimen comes into contact with the drop ofsolution on the cover glass (R. Lill, Histopathologic Methods andApplied Histochemistry. Publisher: “Mir”, Moscow, 1969, p. 85).

In all the cited articles it is mentioned that in manual mounting, airbubbles penetrate under the cover glass and distort the microscopicimage. The air bubbles can be removed by pressing gently on the coverglass with the tip of a dissecting needle. B. Romejs believes that thisprocedure damages the preparation. Apart from this, manual specimenmounting is time-consuming, little productive, and moreover requires aqualified and experienced person.

In the existing mounting apparatuses, the Consul apparatus is closest tothe present invention as regards performance; it is a product of theEnglish company, Shandon. It includes a container for cover glasses, aholder for microscope slides, a metering apparatus for the solution ofthe optical medium, and a roller unit.

The holder for microscope slides consists of a few half frames attachedto a rod and rotating in the plane situated at right angles to the rod.The roller unit in the Consul apparatus consists of a table with tworollers which are beneath the cover glass in the initial position. Thetable and the rollers can be displaced perpendicularly to the plane ofthe cover glass. The rollers can also draw back, with spring-mounteddrive rods.

The microscope slides are placed on a rod which is displaced vertically.The microscope slide is placed in the working region by means of arotational device. The container for the cover glasses and the solutionmetering device are fastened to a frame.

The Consul apparatus operates as follows: The pusher for cover glassesmoves on the guide rails and pushes the lower glass out of the containerinto the working region. An amount of the solution of the optical mediumis dropped from above onto the cover glass from the container in theworking region. The rotary device displaces a half frame with amicroscope slide and brings this into the working region above the coverglass, so that the specimen is turned downward. The table of the rollerunit is raised and brings the cover glass quite near to the microscopeslide. The pusher of the roller unit lifts the rollers until they comeinto contact with the cover glass. The spring-mounted drive rodsthereafter draw back, and the rollers roll the upper surface of thecover glass. In this manner, the middle part of the cover glass ispressed by the table, and the side portions are rolled by the rollers.After this, the roller unit is lowered, and the rotary device brings thehalf frame with the mounted microscope slide into the initial position.

The Consul apparatus makes it possible to mount 400 specimens per hour.It can be successfully used in laboratories for histopathologicalinvestigations, because of its high performance.

The disadvantage of the Consul apparatus is the horizontal position ofthe cover glass and of the microscope slide during the pressing, due towhich the removal of air bubbles from the optical medium is madedifficult. This disadvantage is also present in the apparatusesdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,449, U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,241, U.S. Pat.No. 3,930,938, (German Utility Model) DE-U 295 14 506, or WO-A 94/14079.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus in whichair bubbles are avoided in the specimens being mounted.

This object is attained according to the invention by an apparatus forcovering specimens placed on an object carrier with a cover glass. Theapparatus includes a holder to receive object carriers, and a segmentthat applies a cover glass onto an object carrier that is received inthe holder. The holder is constructed such that the normal to an objectcarrier received in the holder is inclined to the vertical by at least45 degrees.

According to the present invention, a holder to receive, in a positioninclined to the horizontal, the object carrier to be covered, and adevice for the application of the respective cover glass to the objectcarrier which is aligned in an inclined attitude, are provided. It hasbeen found that air bubbles can easily escape by means of an alignmentof the object carrier inclined at at least 45° to the horizontal, andpreferably vertically, during covering.

In other words, the normal to the object carrier is inclined to thevertical by at least 45 degrees.

In an advantageous embodiment example of the invention, the device forthe application of the cover glasses is arranged to be rotatable orpivotable on the component which carries the mounting for the objectcarrier. With this device, the cover glasses are supplied by a rotarymotion to the vertically aligned object carrier, and are pressed ontothis. The axis of rotary or pivoting motion is then to be mountedhorizontally movable, preferably against a resilient force. By thehorizontally movable mounting of the axis of rotation or pivoting, theeffect is attained that the line of maximum pressing force between thecover glass and the object carrier travels in a vertical directionduring the rotary motion, so that the rotary or pivoting motion leads tothe cover glass being rolled onto the object carrier. With the resilientmounting of the axis of rotation or pivoting, the pressing force issubstantially determined by the spring force. In the basic position,i.e. before the application of the cover glass, the axis of rotation ishorizontally offset from the vertical plane of the cover glass. Duringthe rotary or pivoting motion, the rotation axis travels in thehorizontal direction, and thus passes the vertical plane of the objectcarrier, and in the end position is finally positioned on the other sideof the plane of the object carrier. For moving the cover glasses, thedevice for the application of cover glasses can simply reach through awindow in a support plate which serves to receive the cover glasses. Bymeans of a thrust device which serves for the transportation ofindividual cover glasses, the cover glasses can be brought out of asupply container into a position which covers the window in the supportplate.

The apparatus according to the invention is preferably embodied as amanual device, wherein, for the rotary or pivoting motion for theapplication of the cover glasses and for the thrust device for thetransportation of the cover glasses out of the supply container into theposition covering the window in the support plate is constituted as ahand-operated lever or bar. It is thus possible to mechanically coupleboth drives together by simple means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Details of the invention will be described in further detail by means ofthe embodiment example shown in the Figures. In detail,

FIG. 1 shows a section through an apparatus according to the inventionin a vertical plane, and

FIG. 2 shows a section through the arrangement of FIG. 1 in a planeperpendicular to FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The base frame of the apparatus is denoted by (1) in FIG. 1. Thecontainer for the cover glasses is arranged on this base frame. Itconsists of lateral bars (3), a lower support plate (5), and a verticalplate (4). The cavity defined between the lateral bars (3), thebaseplate (5) and the vertical plate (4) serves as a container for coverglasses. The vertical plate (4) then forms the front wall of thecontainer. The support plate (5) projects to the front side of thecontainer below the vertical plate (4). A linear spacing is providedbetween the vertical plate (4) and the support plate (5), and is largerthan the thickness of a cover glass, but smaller than the thickness oftwo cover glasses.

A pusher (6) is provided between the bars (3) and the support plate (5)and is guided, in a manner not shown, by the sidewalls of the container.The pusher (6) is constituted as a plate, the thickness of which issmaller than the thickness of a cover glass. The slider (6) can beoperated by a drive rod.

A holder (8) is furthermore fixedly arranged on the base frame (1), toreceive object carriers. This holder (8) has grooves in which an objectcarrier can be inserted vertically or nearly vertically. For objectcarriers inserted into the grooves (9), the surface normal of the objectcarrier glass is to have an angle of more than 45° to the vertical. Theholder (8) thus adjoins the support plate (5) directly, so that anobject carrier glass inserted into the holder (8) is positionedimmediately adjacent to the support plate (5) but nearly perpendicularto it.

Furthermore a segment or device (11) is rotatably arranged on the baseframe (1) and forms a device for supplying the cover glasses to aninserted object carder. The rotation axis (12) of the segment or device(11) is then angled horizontally and is itself further more linearlydisplaceable relative to the base frame (1). For this lineardisplaceability of the rotation axis (12), the rotation axis (12) isreceived in a preferably round component (13), a roller, which is itselffurthermore received, horizontally displaceable against the force of aspring (14), on the be frame (1). The rotatable segment or device (11)can engage through a window (10) in the prolonged region of the supportplate (5). The window (10) in the support plate (5) has therefor a width(b) which is smaller than the length (c) of a cover glass but is greaterMan the thickness (d) of the segment or device (11).

The drive of the segment (11) can take place, for example, by means of ahand-operated drive frame (15) which is rotatably received on the baseframe (1) by means of two half shafts (16) (FIG. 2). For a releasablecoupling of the frame (15) to the segment (11), a pin (17) connectingthe side portions of the frame (15) can be provided, and can engage inelongate slots (19) of the segment (11).

The embodiment example of the invention just described operates asfollows: Firstly an object carrier glass with the specimen to be mountedis inserted vertically into the groove (9) of the holder (8). Thealignment of the object carrier glass with the specimen should be suchthat the specimen is placed on the side of the object carrier glasswhich faces the container (2) for cover glasses. After this, thelowermost of the cover glasses situated in the container (2) is pushedout of the container (2) by actuation of the pusher (6), until the coverglass comes into contact with the object carrier glass. The cover glasswhich is pushed out thus comes to be situated above the window (10) ofthe support plate (5). After this, the pusher (6) returns to its initialposition. A few drops of an optical medium are dispensed from a meteringdevice (21) arranged above the container (8) onto the surface of thepassed-through position shown by I in FIG. 1. With the rotation of theframe (15) thereby caused around the half shafts (16), the pin (17) ofthe frame (15) engages in the groove (19) of the segment (11). Thesegment (11) is thereby entrained, and rotates around the rotation axis(12). The segment (11) engages through the window (10) in the supportplate (5) and lifts up the cover glass. With a further rotation of thesegment (11), the cover glass is applied by a pivoting motion to thevertically aligned object carrier glass.

The rotation axis (12) of the segment (11) is first positioned on theside of the object carrier glass (9) remote from the specimen by meansof corresponding setting of a stop screw (22) for the component (13). Asa result, the cover glass first comes into contact with the lower edgeof the object carrier glass. On further rotation of the segment (11) andthe pressing force resulting therefrom between the cover glass and theobject carrier glass, a horizontal movement of the rotation axis (12) ofthe segment (11) results, in that the component (13) is displacedhorizontally against the force of the spring (14). The rotation axis(12) thus travels in the direction toward the container (2) for coverglasses, and passes through the plane of the object carrier glass. Thishorizontal movement of the rotation axis (12) has the result that thehorizontal line of maximum pressing force travels from the lower edge tothe upper edge of the object carrier glass and cover glass. A rollingmotion is simulated by this travel of the line of maximum pressingforce, and any air bubbles which may be included between the cover glassand the object carrier glass are thereby pressed out upward.

The movement of the frame (15) is continued until the frame (15) comesinto contact with a second stop screw (20). This stop screw (20) is,again, set such that the abutment between the frame (15) and the stopscrew (20) is reached in the position in which the line of maximumpressing force has reached the upper edge of the cover glass. The frame(15) is then located in the position II shown by dashed lines in FIG. 1.The frame (15) is then moved back toward its initial position. With thisbackward movement of the frame (15), there takes place by means of theaction of the spring (14) a second rolling of the cover glass on theobject carrier glass, but in the opposite direction this time, until thecomponent (13) reaches the stop screw (22). With a further upwardmovement of the frame, the segment (11) returns to its initial position.

The vertical or nearly vertical position of the object carrier glass andof the cover glass during the rolling-on contributes to an effectiveremoval of air bubbles from the optical medium. Trials with theapparatus according to the invention with histological specimens haveshown that no formation of air bubbles was observed in 99% of thespecimens investigated.

In the embodiment example shown in FIG. 1, two different manual drives,the frame (15) and the rod (7), are provided for the pusher (6) and thesegment (11). It is however possible to couple the frame (15) and rod(7) together by means of a drive which can be uncoupled. It can thus bearranged that the drive (7) for the pusher (6) is actuated upon amovement to the right of the frame (15) out of the position denoted by Iin FIG. 1. In the operation of such an alternative embodiment of theinvention, the frame (15) is first moved to the right after insertion ofan object carrier glass, so that a cover glass is positioned above thewindow (10) of the support plate (5). The frame is then moved back, asdescribed hereinabove, into the position denoted by I, and in additionas far as the position denoted by II, so that covering of the specimentakes place. Furthermore, the frame (15) can also be coupled to aperistaltic pump for the metering device (21), so that when the frame(15) moves between the position denoted by I and the engagement of thepin (17) in the segment (11), the optical medium is automaticallydispensed onto the surface of the cover glass.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for covering specimens placed on anobject carrier with a cover glass, comprising: a holder to receiveobject carriers, and a device that applies a cover glass onto an objectcarrier received in said holder, in which said holder is constructedsuch that the object carrier received in said holder is inclined to thehorizontal by at least 45 degrees.
 2. The apparatus according to claim1, further comprising a carrying member carrying said holder, in whichsaid device is arranged at least one of rotatably or pivotably on saidcarrying member.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, in which theaxis of rotation or pivoting of said device is mounted to be movable ina horizontal direction.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, in whichsaid axis of rotation or pivoting of said device is resiliently mounted.5. The apparatus according to claim 1, in which said holder is arrangedto receive object carriers in a vertical or nearly vertical alignmentwith the surface of an object.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, inwhich before application of a cover glass axis of rotation or pivotingof said device is positioned with a horizontal offset with respect to avertical plane of an object car.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1,in which said support plate includes a window and said deice engagessaid window.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising asupply container for cover glasses and a thruster for transporting anindividual cover glass into a position covering said window.
 9. Theapparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a common band drivethat pivotably moves said device and said thruster.
 10. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a metering dispenser dispensinga solution onto a cover glass.